By Adedapo Adesanya
A co-founder of Paystack, Mr Shola Akinlade, has expanded his imprint in football club ownership by acquiring a majority stake of up to 55 per cent in a Danish second-tier football club, Aarhus Fremad.
This is coming after he established the club, Sporting Lagos, in his hometown, Lagos in 2022, which plays in the second tier of the Nigerian league, the Nigerian National League, and in the future, will be a cooperative club with Aarhus Fremad following the acquisition.
Mr Akinlade, 38, lives today in North Carolina, USA, and after selling Paystack, which he founded with his business partner, Mr Ezra Olubi, to Stripe for $200 million in 2020, has set his sight on football ventures.
The acquisition of the Danish club will see no major changes at Riisvangen, where the club is based, assured the club’s director, Mr Lars Kruse.
He also revealed that it was the Nigerian businessman who approached Aarhus Fremad, which was dealing with liquidity issues.
“A Danish mutual acquaintance of the Nigerian and Lars Kruse was asked by Shola Akinlade if he had any good advice on which club he could invest in. He was looking for one.
“It is no secret that it has probably cost a little of my otherwise positive energy that I have had to transfer this money on an ongoing basis to keep the club going. It is one of the worst things you can experience in a company when liquidity is at the limit. It’s terrible,” Mr Kruse said of the club currently topping the second division table.
Modupe Gbadeyanka 
Dipo Olowookere